With March Madness concluding Monday and document quantities wager on the annual basketball extravaganza, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) emphasised his perception that federal sports activities betting regulation was wanted.
On Friday, the senator held a information convention outlining what he sees as a public well being disaster and the necessity to rein within the trade.
In September, he teamed up with Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) in saying the SAFE Bet Act (Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet) that may set minimal federal sports activities betting requirements. Those embody setting promoting limits, banning providing bonus bets, banning faculty sports activities prop bets, and extra.
In the information convention, Blumenthal highlighted his invoice together with the GRIT Act (Gambling Addiction, Recovery, Investment, and Treatment Act), which is supposed to deal with playing dependancy. Blumenthal believes these two federal proposals might overhaul the trade and restrict hurt to bettors.
“Casinos are with us literally from morning to evening on these phones,” Blumenthal mentioned. “They are portable casinos that come with you everywhere. This industry needs reform. The consequences of addiction are huge. They break families, stop careers, and lead to job losses.”
Blumenthal confused that the payments wouldn’t ban playing however solely search some reforms.
“We are not banning it,” he mentioned. “It is not going to be prohibited. Let’s make clear: no prohibition, but several standards … so that the casino in your pocket doesn’t become an instrument of addiction.”
Sports betting and gaming teams have opposed the SAFE Act and don’t consider extra laws are wanted. Critics level to appreciable guidelines already established by state and tribal teams nationwide. Online sportsbooks might lose their working license in the event that they don’t observe these guidelines.
“Introducing heavy-handed federal prohibitions is a slap in the face to state legislatures and gaming regulators who have dedicated countless time and resources to developing thoughtful frameworks unique to their jurisdictions,” American Gaming Association Senior Vice President of Government Relations Chris Cylke mentioned.
Some lawmakers in the identical occasion as Tonko and Blumenthal oppose the SAFE Act. Rep. Dina Titus from Nevada known as the invoice “outdated” and “unwarranted.”
“While the SAFE Bet Act is perhaps well-intentioned,” she mentioned, “pre-empting state gaming regulators by outlawing most forms of advertising and restricting the types and methods by which customers can place bets is a misguided approach.”
March Madness wrapped up on Monday evening with the University of Florida Gators topping the University of Houston Cougars 65-63. The American Gaming Association predicted Americans would legally wager $3.1 billion on the NCAA males’s and ladies’s faculty basketball tournaments this yr, up from $2.7 billion in 2024.
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